Which dealer are you working with ?

 

Some posters have suggested Lemon Law proceedings, and others have suggested a trade in. I have no intention of losing any money over this, and both the dealership and PCNA have been made aware of that. Even more concerning to me is the safety issue we face, and thus, last week I had a lengthy in-person meeting with a technical specialist from PCNA, the dealership's GM, its lead tech, and one of its three owners, as I would not accept a new replacement car, let alone, my 3 month-old car in "repaired" condition, without an engineer's explanation as to how any future fix or new model year designation would prevent reoccurrence of the problem. I learned at the meeting that PCNA has previously sought to decrease the air gap between the Hall effect sensor and the flywheel by modifying the sensor mount, but Porsche of Germany had since recommended an increase in the gap. Since that meeting, PCNA claims at my request to have further sought and received such an explanation regarding the newest proposed fix from Porsche in Germany, which is a new and specially machined spacer designed to create a specified increase in air gap. In summary, the explanation is that this particular problem occurs only in MT cars, and that upon entering and starting a MT car (when the sensor is activated to pick up data from the flywheel, upon which it bases its future calculations during the drive cycle) the "unlocked" flywheel of a MT can be jostled ever so slightly from either passenger movement or parking brake disengagement, and if the sensor is too close to the flywheel (which is apparently the case in many MT cars), the sensor cannot "see" enough of the flywheel teeth to properly compensate for the tiny movement and then cannot properly calculate data for the rest of the drive cycle, causing the calculated values to eventually signal a mismatch with expected parameters, and that causes the engine to shut down. The new machined spacer has supposedly been designed to permit the proper amount of data to be read by the sensor, including enough to compensate for artifact from possible movement of the flywheel. My car was returned to me yesterday with new spacer installed, and appears to be working fine so far.

 

I've received private messages regarding my posts, but cannot seem to get responses to go through. My dealer is Porsche of Conshohocken. If anyone calls service there, tell Mike Pelberg that Jonathan said hello.

 

Thanks Jonny. Been speaking to Mike about the issue on my car as well and I am taking it in tomorrow or Friday.

 

0101

 

I may have folded under the pressure. That's great determination and standing up to the man...!

 

Any updates on this topic? My 2013 MT Cabrio is at dealership for 10k mile service and I am having similar issue. At least 3 visits to dealership and no fix as it is "intermittent". Contacted PCNA so hopefully they will fix or I will redirect them to this forum. Did the spacer / new crankshaft sensor fix the issue? Should we avoid using parking brake as much as possible? Maybe this is a "fix" until they figure it out once and for all??

 

Had mine fixed and so far, no issues. PCNA knows of the issue so if your dealer contacts them, PCNA will be able to provide support and instructions to the dealer.

 

Hey Guys,

Just signed up due to this thread - I have a 1.5 month old 2014 C4S MT and have the same issue. Really scary - its been great for the first 1300 miles but today went to turn it on and had to crank it a few times to get it up and running. Then when I'm out driving, whenever I slow down or am stopped the engine just turns off - then I can crank it again to start while people are blowing their horns at me only to happen again at the next light! Really disappointed - will be getting it flatbed'd in for service and will mention the crank shaft sensor/spacing issue you guys have uncovered and let you know!

 

Just as a side-note, there are government agencies that track this sort of thing.

The NHTSA is one good resource. If there are a dozen or so of these situations occurring, and they are safety-related, the NHTSA will actually do something.

You can go online and submit the data. If they find the situations to be similar in cause or effect, you're going to see a recall. At the very least, Porsche will receive notice that they are being investigated....

 

0101

 

The sensor needs replacing or it needs a spacer (or did you get both, or is that what you mean)?

 

0101

 

Really lame - will let you know how mine works out

 

I thought it was the start/stop intervening when it happened the first few times during the first few months of ownership. Then I noticed it was not on when it occasionally happened. I have not really noticed it since the initial few hundred miles. Currently at 1900 miles, so maybe not occurring with the same frequency as others with more frequent driving. I have the 7 speed manual and X51. Very interested to hear how this develops. The thread indicates this problem is with both PDK and Manual transmissions. I use the parking brake all the time and have had no issues with starting. It has stalled maybe 3-4 times during the first 1,000 miles. None during the subsequent 900 miles.